In Senegal, Aliou Cissé, coach of the Lions of Teranga, dismissed in a hurry

Aliou Cissé, 48, is no longer the coach of the Senegal football team. The former captain of the Lions of Teranga, appointed in 2015 and who won the 2022 African Cup of Nations (CAN) in Cameroon, was sacked as Sadio Mané’s teammates prepare to face Malawi on 11 and October 15 in Dakar and Lilongwe, as part of the qualifications for CAN 2025.

The information was made official by the Senegalese Football Federation (FSF) on October 2. To ensure the interim, she should appoint her deputy Pape Thiaw. Aliou’s contract ended on August 31, but that did not prevent him from leading his team against Burkina Faso (1-1) and Burundi (1-0) in September. His lease at the head of the national selection was to be extended until the end of CAN 2025 in Morocco (from December 21, 2025 to January 18, 2026), as announced by the FSF, which was however awaiting validation from the Ministry of sports, since Mr. Cissé’s salary is entirely covered by the State.

Problem: the said ministry remained deaf to the multiple reminders from the federation and refused to sign the new contract of Aliou Cissé who, in the end, ended up being fired. “The Minister of Sports only applied instructions from above, where we no longer wanted the coach, who was the target of numerous criticisms, notably after the match against Burkina Faso where he was whistled by the public, some of whom demanded resignation. He also said that his salary was too high. The federation was presented with a fait accompli”explains a member of the body on condition of anonymity.

“It’s quite brutal, especially a few days before two very important matches. But we knew that the validation of the new contract was blocked at the level of the sports ministry and that this was not a very good sign. adds Djibril Wade, president of the Senegalese Professional Football League (LSFP).

Which successor?

In its press release, the FSF, whose president Augustin Senghor supported Aliou Cissé to the end, warmly thanked the technician. In addition to winning CAN 2022, he had qualified his team for the last four editions of the continental competition as well as for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. To explain the departure of the former midfielder, several reasons have been put forward , such as those of not having reached the quarter-finals of the World Cup in Qatar, of not having retained in Ivory Coast the title obtained in Cameroon, or of a risk of falling out of love with the Senegalese who criticized him for a system of game lacking ambition.

In Senegal, the announcement of the departure of the former Paris Saint-Germain and Montpellier player has been a subject widely debated since the publication of the federation’s press release. Opinions are divided, between those who defend his record – 103 matches, 67 victories, 23 draws and 13 defeats in addition to the CAN won in 2023 – and those who believe that the coach was no longer able to make his team progress.

“The timing to part ways with him is really not good, estimates Ferdinand Coly, Mr. Cissé’s former teammate with the national team. But we felt that he was a little tired, because the pressure is very high here. Its gaming system was not unanimously accepted, including among certain players. »

With the Aliou Cissé chapter now closed, we will now have to find a successor. The path leading to a Senegalese coach is favored, in particular by the political authorities. In addition to that of Pape Thiaw, who will act as interim at least during the two matches against Malawi, the name of Habib Beye, 46, currently free of any commitment after having brought Red Star into French Ligue 2, is starting to be mentioned. circulate. But we are also talking about the Frenchman Hervé Renard (56 years old), double African champion with Zambia (2012) and Ivory Coast (2015), and who recently refused the post of coach of Nigeria.